A Study On The Interaction Between The Wu Family, A Merchant Family In Guangzhou During The Qing Dynasty, And Literat

Among The thirteen-hongs in Canton specialized in foreign trade in the Qing Dynasty,the Wu family was one of the most famous business families,ranking first in the trade scale,and serving as the chief business of the business group for a long time.The Wu family has made great achievements in business and culture.For several generations,the Wu family valued cultural talent and cultivation.In business,they adhered to the concept of "Confucian businessman" and combined justice and profit.However,influenced by the traditional concept of "scholar,farmer,industry and commerce",the actual status of large merchants is low in terms of social psychology.Under the overall predicament of The thirteen-hongs Merchants,the Wu Family has the need to improve their cultural ability and practical status.The economic development of Lingnan in the late Qing Dynasty promoted the integration of scholars and businessmen in Guangzhou.The Wu Family actively made friends with local scholars,and held daily meetings and creating in the Wu Family Garden,or went out together for cultural activities.The Wu family cultivated the cultural quality of its people by making friends with the literati.After several generations of development,elegant talents gradually emerged in the Wu family.At the same time,the Wu family assisted the construction of Wenlan Academy,Xuehaitang and other academies in the process of communication with scholars,and cultivated Caton talents.There are also collections and inscriptions of Lingnan rare books,such as Lingnan Relics and Collection of the Thirteen Canton Writers,which have contributed a lot to the influence of Lingnan culture.Wu Deyi made some achievements in Lingnan painting.The Wu family is an important branch of the evolution and transformation of the thirteen-hongs merchants group,which confirms the trend of the confluence of local scholar and merchant cultures in the late Qing Dynasty,and plays an important role in the changes of Chinese merchants in the late Qing Dynasty and modern times.